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Vhalla Yarl marches to war as property of the Solaris Empire. The Emperor counts on her to bring victory, the Senate counts on her death, and the only thing Vhalla can count on is the fight of her life. As she grapples with the ghosts of her past, new challenges in the present threaten to shatter the remnants of her fragile sanity. Will she maintain her humanity? Or will she truly become the Empire’s monster?

Fire Falling is the second book in the Air Awakens Series.

This is the second book in the Air Awakens series. If you haven’t read the first book (also Air Awakens), what the flip are you doing here? Go read my review, then BUY THE BOOK ALREADY.

Ok, calm down, Dani. Ladies and gentlebugs, prepare yourself. But first, stare a bit more at the awesomeness that is the Fire Falling cover.

Vhalla suits up in this epic sequel to the fantasy novel that is Air Awakens. This book is more – more everything. More magic, more badassery, more friendship, more of that oh so frustrating sexual tension. Fire Falling is absolutely filled with kickass moments and ~feels~, and it knocked me over a number of times. The magic is awesome (I’m trying to tone down my crazy here), but what stands out in my mind are the characters. They are my friends now, real in a way that few stories achieve. I can’t wait to meet them again in Earth’s End!

I read Fire Falling twice. The first time, it was all about Vhaldrik for me. Like, no joke, all I could think about was the ~tension~. If you’ve read Air Awakens, you should know what I’m talking about. There was soooo much tension between Vhalla and Aldrik. It was palpable, a living, breathing nightmare. Elise was the killer of moments, the destroyer, the freaking Grim Reaper. DARTH KOVA.

SHE GETS WORSE.

MUCH WORSE.

Elise is a horrible, horrible person that I can’t help but love. Why do I do this to myself?

I can’t even talk further without saying that you will not come out of this book the same person. You will feel so much. You will cheer. You will shake your fists at the heaven. YOU WILL CRY.

You will feel so much that you won’t be able to feel anything in the end.

The second time I read through, I was able to pick up on some of the little details that I forgot about in my Vhaldrik obsession but that I’m sure are important. Hell, I’m sure you did the same in Air Awakens, as there are some details in there that I forgot about but that are life-changing in this book. Take notes, guys!

But let me ease you into my fangirling.

World-building

While Air Awakens took place solely in the castle and surrounding inner city, Fire Falling takes Vhalla out onto the road, heading North towards…well…the North (AKA Shaldan). Luckily, Kova has provided us with a map to follow the army’s progress up the Great Imperial Way. In case I haven’t said this before (I have), I LOVE MAPS. Hi, Elise, please can I have a map print? From the map, you can see that there’s a lot of room to play in the Air Awakens world, and more off the continent. I’m wondering if we’ll actually get to explore off the island at some point, but even if we don’t, there are still mountains and jungles and THE CRYSTAL CAVES. (I need MORE on this. For realsies, what is going on in those caves?! THEY ARE MY OBSESSION.)

Anyway, most of the book is spent traveling the Great Imperial Way, and we get to see mountains and jungles…and not the Crystal Caves. No, more like a lot of desert. I definitely got the feel for the great expanse of sand in the middle of the continent. A few years ago, the boyfriend and I (and a couple of his friends) took a roadtrip down to Morocco and drove around for a month. There’s a lot of sand down in Morocco, and I was reminded so much of my time out there while reading, especially the markets and the emptiness.

Oh, and before I forget, Elise has a few things on Pinterest to show you her inspirations, and guess what? Morocco was one of them. Score for me!

Plot

This story is a rollercoaster, you guys.

It picks up a few days after the end of Air Awakens, and Vhalla has not been let off easy from the events of the Night of Fire and Wind. Her psyche won’t let her forget the night, and she’s been conscripted into the army, off to the fight in the North. Well, crap. I finished Air Awakens thinking ‘YAASSSSSSSSSSS, go Vhalla!’ with her badass haircut scene. But Vhalla is still Vhalla, unused to fighting and the outside world. That hasn’t changed overnight. She’s also got Sareem on her conscience, and a lot of people hate her. Doesn’t sound too good, does it?

“What’s the point?” Vhalla whispered through quivering lips. “I’m dead the moment we see real combat.”

At the start, I sort of expected to get straight to the North, quite quickly, but silly me, of course there were far too many miles to traverse, far too much that Vhalla had to learn before she was ready for battle. When I finished Air Awakens, all I wanted was for Aldrik to train Vhalla. I am a massive sucker for the whole training + sexual tension thing. I mean, Ignite Me anyone? (W$RHWOHFOSIDHFOIDSHF Warner. Sorry. Carry on.) Guess what? I got what I asked for!!! Vhalla has so much to learn about both war and her power, and we get to learn alongside her. This is one of the MANY things Elise does well, dropping snippets here and there for us to pick up on. (Seriously, guys, get your notebooks out or highlight anything that looks even marginally important or suspicious.)

So if Elise granted that wish of mine, did she grant my other one? You know, an end to all the damn sexual tension. Nope. And in fact, she added a few more complications into the mix that had me banging my head against the table and calling some of the characters a few colourful names. (ELECIA.) I mean, don’t get me wrong, we get a little bit of relief, but then she goes and SCREWS US ALL OVER. AGAIN. Damn you, Elise. DAMN YOU.

My only niggle about the plot is that I wanted more details on the little exhibition at the end. For a lot of the book, I thought it would be a bigger deal than it was, but like with Air Awakens, the book doesn’t end when you think it will. It’s a red freaking herring. I was tricked. Again. But I’m still curious about what the challenge involved. Deleted scene, Elise?

You will know when the book ends. Trust me.

I hate you, Elise.

No, jokes, I love you, I do.

BUT I HATE YOU.

Characters and relationships

EEEEEEEEE MY FAVOURITE PART!!!!

Ok, guys, there are so many great characters in this book!!!

I’m getting all excited now!

Let’s start with Vhalla. I am Actually Vhalla Yarl. Again, she reacts just like I would in so many situations. We ask the same questions, wonder about the same things, moon over the same guy. (Aldrik, my looooove.) Vhalla has to deal with a lot this book. SO MUCH. And she has no end to kickass moments, especially a certain scene with her magic. IT IS AN EPIC SCENE. Read the book and you will know which scene I’m talking about. All through the scene, my heart was thudding, and at the end, I actually jumped out of my seat and shouted “HELL YEAH”. There are times when she shows so much strength, like in this scene, but she’s still human. She’s scared, she’s angry, she makes mistakes. She also has to deal with Elecia, which doesn’t help. (FHohfaohow ehfaowhf ELECIA.) And all the while, she knows she’s Property.

There was something severed and rough about her, something tainted and yet, at the same time those jagged pieces were the makings of something fearsome. She’d wanted to become someone the Senate would fear, why not shatter the sky?

Aldrik also doesn’t really know what’s going on. He thought he had things figured out, but now he has these ~feelings~ that he doesn’t know how to handle. He also doesn’t freaking know what he’s doing to Vhalla by going around with Elecia. OH MY GOD, ELECIA. But Aldrik is still sooooo swoonworthy in this book. We get to learn more about him, see other sides, and oh, my poor tormented Aldrik. He reveals a lot of vulnerability in this book. Still, no excuse for some of his behaviour! But after the end of Fire Falling, I will forgive all transgressions if you don’t do what I think you might do, Elise.

And because no Air Awakens post is complete without a gif of Tom Hiddleston…LOOK INTO HIS EYES.

A note on Elecia – gah. That is all.

Daniel? Oh, Daniel. What a gentleman. Daniel, well done for making me question my OTP. You are a sweetheart. Ely and I have a name for you – Riley. (Those of you who have watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer might know what we mean.) I kind of love you, Daniel. Maybe there’s a chance for you yet?

…

…

…

omg omg omg

FRITZ. FRITZYPOO. I love you. I want you to hug you and cuddle you and NEVER LET YOU GO. *SMUSH*. Because Ed Sheeran is my Fritz and I feel like this is so him, enjoy…

Finally, I have to talk about Larel. Larel is the best friend I want to have at my side all the time. I don’t really have a best friend in person, haven’t had one since high school. The people I’d consider my best friends now are all in different countries. (In fact, one of them is coming to visit tomorrow, and she is basically Larel for me.) Larel really stands out in this book, and I wish I could read more about her. You’ll see why I say that. You will.

Overall

The ending killed me. Honestly. I was dead for the remainder of the day, then broke down in the shower the next morning and kept at it while at work. I have still not quite recovered. But how can I?

I need Earth’s End now, but I’m a little scared to read it. I don’t know what going to happen to myself (and by that, I mean Vhalla). I don’t know if I can handle more of what happens in Fire Falling.

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